Gulf States back Saudi plan for M.E. peace

Press, 13 November 1981, Page 6

Gulf States back Saudi plan for M.E. peace

NZPA-Reuter Riyadh ■ Leaders of six Gulf States have endorsed Saudi Arabia’s Middle East peace plan, agreed to turn the oil-rich region into an economic common market, and offered to help end the war between Iran and Iraq. The decisions were taken yesterday at the end of a two-day summit meeting of the Gulf Co-operation Council, whose members ’ are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They asked that the Saudi peace plan, already rejected by Israel, should be included on the agenda of an Arab summit conference in Fez, Morocco, on November 25 with the aim of “crystallising a unified Arab stand on the Palestinian problem.” The six emphasised their non-alignment, saying that

they “rejected all attempts by foreign Powers to find a foothold in the area.” They offered to help in efforts to end the 13-month-long Iraq-Iran war, which they said threatened the region’s security and stability. They also pledged to undertake intensive efforts to achieve unity of Arab ranks but made no reference to Egypt, which most Arab States have boycotted since it signed a peace treaty with Israel. The text of the economic agreement was not released, but it envisages co-ordination and integration in numerous fields ranging from oil to trade and travel. The council’s secretarygeneral (Mr Abdullah Bishara) said the agreement was a skeleton to be fleshed out by experts with the aim of knocking, down all economic barriers in the region. The Gulf leaders, who

formed the Co-operation Council after the Afghan crisis, the Iranian revolution and the Gulf war, expressed determination to continue coordination in political, economic and security fields and “to face danger surrounding the area.” They asked their Defence Ministers to define priorities to guarantee their countries’ independence and sovereignty. The statement made no reference to an Omani newspaper report on Wednesday which quoted the Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Qais Zawawi) as saying the council’s Foreign Ministers had recommended the creation of an air defence system for the area. • Earlier yesterday Israel dismissed a reported offer by King Hussein of Jordan to negotiate with it on the basis of Saudi Arabia’s eight-point peace plan.